Alibaba's holds lofty goals for Singles Day

Many domestic counterparts have joined the fray this year, hoping to cash in on the occasion. However, Alibaba, thanks to its first-mover advantage, leads the pack.

Meanwhile, widespread discounts have pushed some firms into the red. Jing Dong Mall, which rolled out a similar promotion in October, is likely to face even wider losses as it strives to catch up with Tmall, while online clothing vendor Vancl's goal to become profitable was jeopardized by a recent scandal, with some suppliers alleging the company breached payment contracts.

With its logistics and data firepower, Alibaba aims to deliver products at the fastest possible pace. In tandem with industry partners including retailers and couriers, Alibaba established a 100-billion-yuan logistics network in May that aims to make 24-hour domestic deliveries possible.

Alibaba is well positioned to make the best use of its resources, such as warehouse locations, by using big data to gauge supply and demand, said Hong Bo, founder of IT consultancy company IT5.

Praveen Sengar, an analyst with consultancy Gartner Inc, believes that Alibaba made the e-commerce market as big as it is.

"By building logistics and support systems around it, it has transformed the entire retail industry and is taking it to the next level," he said.

To back its e-commerce business, Alibaba has also set foot in the online finance territory by fostering online commerce projects. It also developed an online shopping search engine, a mobile operating system, Internet TV set-top boxes, and has invested in a digital mapping service and on Sina, the popular micro-blogging platform.

Such developments reflect an emerging trend called omni-channel projects, said Jeff Baum, senior vice-president at Manhattan Associates Asia-Pacific, a company that specializes in supply chains.

Omni-channel commerce has put the customer in the driver's seat, with the ability to shop anywhere, buy anywhere and receive products in the manner and time of his or her choosing. It also requires the ability to manage one single pool of inventory for both the brick-and-mortar stores and online channels.